I have an Asian nightmare

Speaking of dreams, I forgot to mention here what is old news to my friends: one of my dreams is, indeed, coming true!

At the beginning of this semester, I applied for one of Northeastern’s Dialogue of Civilizations programs. These programs, exclusive to NU, are kind of like a summer study abroad, except with a much greater focus on cultural immersion and experience rather than just taking courses in a different country. For example, there are Dialogues where kids learn about healthcare in Australia, micro-financing in Cuba, or photography in Italy.

I applied for the Language Immersion Dialogue to Japan.

It was a bit of a long shot, actually. I’m just a freshman. My Japanese, when I applied, was… rusty. So when I went to interview for the program, I kind of freaked out:

But… I guess I did okay! Because, last month, I got an e-mail…

I was accepted! Oh my goodness gracious, I was accepted. I couldn’t believe it!

Especially because I’m the only freshman going on the trip. Everybody else is an upperclassman. I just… can’t… I don’t…

So this summer, from May 11th to June 19th, one of my longtime dreams is finally coming true. I’m going to Japan! 日本に行く！I’m still in shock, really. The best part is that my scholarship pays the tuition costs– so I’ll only have to pay about $700 instead of $10,000. Not a bad deal, for sure.

Hahaha that’s supposed to be “allergy.” She actually said it like that in my interview, throwing me into complete confusion. I asked her to repeat the question twice before she finally explained it in English: “You know, peanuts, fish, dietary restrictions…”

I’m glad you could read all of it, though! Whew… maybe I will survive in Japan! 😛

I don’t know if anybody asked this question or if you want to answer, but what scholarship are you on? I am a freshman in high school, and I want to go to Northeastern, but of course college is expensive.

I don’t mind at all! I’m on the National Merit Scholarship. You can find more info here http://www.nationalmerit.org/nmsp.php#entryreq but basically, the top 16,000 scorers each year on the PSATs become a National Merit Semifinalist. Those kids can apply to become a Finalist, from which about 8,000 kids are chosen. A lot of colleges, including Northeastern, offer full-tuition scholarships to these winners. I happen to be one of the lucky recipients– I’m really fortunate! It’s a great opportunity if you manage to get it– good luck!

We did! According to my tutor, several of the places are the same. We’re going to the Studio Ghibli museum, a bunraku show, sumo wrestling… basically every day is packed. I’ve heard so many good things about the DOC, too. I’m quite literally counting down the days until departure!

Oh, don’t be nervous 🙂 they’re super nice. You basically just hang out, it’s really fun and relaxed. Yeah, I saw him comment on some of your stuff on Facebook, and I really liked your style. I saw your comic about going to Showa too, I went to that same sushi-making event with Josh last year 😀

Aw, you flatter me. I’m glad you like it! How was your experience at the sushi-making event? Mine was definitely… interesting, as you saw. I feel like everyone who goes comes out with hilarious stories.

My experience at the sushi-making event was really awesome. I ended up hanging out with some of the students we met there, but then I moved to San Francisco last May to start a job after graduating. What are you studying at NU?

Wow, San Francisco?! That’s super cool! I’ve only ever been there once, when I was very young. Where are you working?
I’m actually studying biology here, even though I draw comics 😛 I’m not sure what I want to do in the future, though!

Yeah, San Francisco is pretty nice! I like living in big cities. I’m a software developer at a company called Rackspace :). I studied Computer Science when I was at Northeastern. You’re studying Japanese there, right? Genki I?

Yup! I’ve only taken up to Elementary Japanese 2, so I’ve only been through Genki I. Thus why my Japanese is so bad.
Wow, you were a comp sci major? I have a bunch of friends here are are studying computer science, and it sounds incredibly difficult– I’ve heard that the program here is really, really tough. Your job sounds way cool, though– props to you! 😀

You should get Genki II and bring it with you if you can 🙂 I bet you’re 上手!!

CS was pretty tough, but being in college was awesome. I took Japanese at random, and now I really enjoy learning it. I like working but I wish I could still take all kinds of different classes like I did at Northeastern 🙂

いいえ、まだ下手です！Haha and Josh told me the same thing, to get Genki II. So I do have a copy– I just need to study it 😛
College is indeed awesome. I can’t believe my freshman year is over, it went by so fast!

I disagree with what you said about dream logic, that happens to me all of the time. I’m so glad you got to go to Japan! (lucky kid) I REALLY want to go. But when I’m older and after I’ve learned Japanese (darn hard languages, how is that going by the way?), and after I’m so rich that I can blow a lot of money on One Piece stuff. I really like One Piece (I mean I RRREEEAAAALLLLLYYYYY like One Piece).

Haha my Japanese is awful! Learning Japanese is a bit hard at first, simply because it’s so radically different than English. But it’s also a lot of fun, especially when you can start picking out words while watching anime and reading manga!
I REALLY LIKE ONE PIECE TOO!